Stocks turn in depressed performance

After scaling an all-time high overnight, the benchmark KSE 100 index faltered despite a positive start on Tuesday amid reports of oil refining units shutting down and Shanghai Electric Power’s withdrawal of an offer to buy K-Electric. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation attributed the depressed market performance to the expectations of prudent SBP monetary policy announce­ment next week ahead of new IMF loan talks and strong opposition to the petroleum price deregulation model by the refineries which have started closing down their units amid storage constraints and weak sales due to rampant smuggling. He said there was uncertainty over Pakis­tan-US relations following the signing of trade pacts with Iran to increase bilateral annual trade volume to $10 billion over the next five years, dampening investor sentiments. Topline Securities Ltd said equities began the day on a positive note, with across-the-board buying in cyclical stocks, especially in the cement sector, in the backdrop of the current surplus of $619m and anticipation of inflation clocking in at 17-18pc for April.